Release Courtesy of Matt Higgins – MIAC Assistant Executive Director
Bloomington, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s golf team traveled to Florida in search of higher temperatures and lower scores, and the mission was certainly accomplished in a dual meet against Flagler. Gustie junior Matt Spier (Prior Lake, Minn.) turned in remarkable round, finishing 3-under-par to lead his team and finish second overall in the meet, while the team collectively broke 300 as well. For his performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Spier Wednesday with the MIAC Men’s Golf Athlete-of-the-Week award.
Spier felt at home a long way from Minnesota, as he turned in a tremendous round. He finished with a score of 69, three shots below par at the par 72 course, and finished ahead of everyone except a Flagler golfer who went five under. The Gusties following in Spier’s lead to card a 297 as a team at Ponte Vedra Country Club in St. Augustine, Fla. Spier’s score was more than five shots better than the average score of 74.4 and was one of only four players to break par.
Gustavus will hit the road this weekend for a trip to Rock Island, Ill., as the Gusties will compete in the two-day Augustana College Invitational on Friday and Saturday. After that, Gustavus will return home to host the Bobby Krig Invitational in Jordan and Le Sueur, Minn., on April 19-20, and the team will wrap up the regular season at the Saint John’s University Spring Invitational on April 25-26.
NOTE: Matt Spier’s performance at the Emory Spring Invitational was not included in the nomination material because of timeline constraints. In Gustavus’s eighth place finish at the highly-competitive 13-team tournament played on April 6-7 at the Barnsley Gardens Resort, Spier shot a 156 (+12) to finish 12th overall. The junior fired back-to-back 78s (+6) on days one and two.